The Chuniikites are a culture of humanoids who lived near the border of Federation space in the 23rd century. The Chuniikites looked typically Human in appearance, and were extremely hostile, clothing themselves in furs and battle gear even aboard their Chuniikite starships.
In 2268, the Chuniikites were embroiled in the Chuniikite Civil War, a conflict between factions of the Chuniikite government. Since the Chuniikites were extremely aggressive towards outsiders, the Federation government became concerned that Starfleet might come into conflict with the dominant faction after the war's eventual completion. In accordance with these concerns, a project involving Admiral Durham was begun, where Starfleet research specialists were dispatched to a fresh Chuniikite battleground to perform reconnaissance regarding weapons capabilities. A Starfleet reconnaissance vessel that carried the specialists was lost when attacked, and crashed on the Dreamers' planet in Chuniikite space. The USS Enterprise was dispatched based on thought transmissions from the mission's only survivor, Lieutenant Janice Rand. After Rand was recovered, no less than six Chuniikite vessels pursued Enterprise out of Chuniikite space. (TOS comic: "The Dream Walkers")